Singapore-based CDL Hospitality Trust (CDLHT) marks its first foray into continental Europe with the acquisition of Munich’s Pullman Hotel, along with its office and retail components for €98.9 million (S$154 million). Situated close to the major business district, the four-star hotel features 174 rooms and has easy access to the Allianz Arena, the English Garden, Olympic Stadium, and the fair grounds. The deal is accretive with a net property income yield of 5.6 per cent for FY2016 and will be fully funded by debt financing. According to Chief Executive Vincent Yeo, the move will strengthen the trust’s balance sheet and enhance financial flexibility, allowing it to pursue future growth opportunities through acquisitions and asset enhancements initiatives. CDLHT plans to acquire two additional European properties in 2017 once the existing deal is completed. Meanwhile, CDLHT also disclosed of raising S$255.4 million by launching a fully underwritten and renounceable rights issue as it realigns its capital structure through partially repaying its existing borrowings.

Luxury hotel operator, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group plans to open its first Australian hotel in Melbourne in 2023. The hotel will be situated in a 50-storey mixed-use tower on Collin Street, which is planned to be part of the Central Business District regeneration development. The property will feature 196 guestrooms and suites, in addition to 148 Mandarin-branded residences on the tower’s upper floors, which aim to be some of the most luxurious private apartments in the city. Additionally, the hotel will offer an all-day dining restaurant, a roof terrace bar overlooking the city landscape, an executive club lounge, and a range of meeting spaces. The entry of new luxury hotels and residences into Melbourne, including the Ritz-Carlton Residences and the recently announced Shangri-la Hotel, partly signals the rising demand for luxury accommodations in the country.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has announced its first project in Danang, slated to open in Q3-2019. With 150 hotel rooms and 354 branded residences, the Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Danang Vietnam will be situated on the banks of the Han River, in the commercial heart of the city, six kilometers from Danang International Airport. The hotel will provide a range of amenities such as a swimming pool, a fitness center, a spa and a kids’ club, and state-of-the-art meeting rooms including a ballroom. Food & beverage outlets at the hotel will include a signature rooftop bar and restaurant, a lobby lounge, a Café and wine bar, a pool bar, and a specialty restaurant. In Vietnam, the Swiss hotel management company already operates the Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi in Vietnam. Other properties in the development stage include the Mövenpick Resort Cam Ranh Bay (2018), Mövenpick Hotel Quảng Bình (2019), Mövenpick Resort Phu Quoc (2019) and Mövenpick Hotel Quy Nhon (2020).

U City Public Company Limited, a property unit of Thailand’s BTS Group Holdings, has recently acquired 24 European hotels as part of a THB12.3 billion-deal. Through its Austrian subsidiary, Vienna House Capital GmbH (VH Capital), U City assumes full ownership of Vienna International Hotel Management AG with a portfolio of upscale leisure properties as well as business hotels spread across Europe in locations such as Germany, Romania and Poland. In addition to the hotel assets, the deal also includes a management platform that currently operates these 24 hotels, as well as an additional 12 third-party hotels. U City expects VH Capital’s earnings to grow on an average of 20 per cent per annum, over the next four years. The transaction is being financed through a combination of new loans from financial institutions as well as existing cash.

Last week, Royal Orchid Hotels announced the opening of the Regenta LP Vilas in Dehradun, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located approximately 39 kilometers northwest of the city’s Jolly Grand Airport, the hotel features 74 rooms and suites. On the food and beverage front, the hotel features a multi-cuisine restaurant, a coffee lounge, a bar and seven meeting rooms. Other facilities at the hotel include a gym, a spa, a salon and a gaming zone.

Australia’s leading hotel and resort operator, Mantra Group, has integrated all 128 properties across Australia, New Zealand, Bali and Hawaii, consolidating its multi-branded portfolio into a new single consumer brand, known as Mantra Hotels. The new Mantra Hotels masterbrand represents the Group's three brands – Peppers, Mantra and BreakFree. All Mantra Group properties are now featured on one website, offering an overarching consumer brand website for the entire group portfolio for the first time. In additional to a new ‘Mantra Hotels’ logo, which will be used across all consumer communications channels, the group has launched a new and renewed loyalty program called Mantra+.

According to a report by Phocuswright, China, which is now the second largest travel market in the world, is also set to become the most highly penetrated online market in the APAC region this year. Most online bookings worldwide are still made on desktop. In both America and the UK, the rate of mobile bookings is under 30 per cent; however, over half of all travel bookings in China are made on mobile, and this trend is going to continue in 2017. Mobile growth will be driven by demographic changes and technological improvements. 58 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24 agree that searching or booking flight tickets on mobile is relatively easy, while only 17 per cent of those aged above 45 agree with this. Those online travel agencies which differentiate themselves on mobile could win big, and this should be of great importance to companies operating in rapidly emerging mobile markets such as such as India, Indonesia and Brazil.